Biography

Devika Rao, MD, helps children overcome a variety of conditions that affect breathing and the lungs. 

She is a Pediatric Pulmonologist at Children’s Health℠  and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern. She also directs the pulmonary function testing lab at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Rao received her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in 2006 and completed her pediatric residency at Emory University School of Medicine in 2009. She then completed her fellowship training in pediatric pulmonology at Boston Children's Hospital in 2012.  

Dr. Rao is a national leader in treating and studying lung injuries caused by vaping/e-cigarettes. She was invited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide input on lung injury due to e-cigarettes. Dr. Rao’s research on these injuries was published in the journal Pediatrics. She has been interviewed about vaping injuries by many local and national media outlets, including the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.  

Dr. Rao’s expertise extends to many other conditions. For example, she spearheaded a clinic at Children’s Health that specializes in treating children with pulmonary problems related to sickle cell disease. She also works closely with our neonatology team to help infants and children manage bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic lung condition that can develop in premature babies.

In her spare time, Dr. Rao spends time with her husband and two young children, sings devotional Vedic hymns, and she is working on her first novel.

Biography